When the Mother Speaks and the Daughter Listens
by VictorianRose99
Summary: 'Love is the answer to everything...'


**A/N: This is a discussion between Kimiko and her daughter, Reiko, mentioned in _Prompt of Chamiko._ Enjoy!**

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"Did Papa always love you?" wondered the young girl of fourteen.

"No," admitted Kimiko, knowing it wasn't the answer that the young girl was waiting for.

Reiko's brow forrowed with thought. "Well, when did he know?"

"When your brother was born. That's when he was certain."

"Because he had to be?"

"Because...because he finally had proof that I loved him just as much as he wanted to love me. I nearly died giving birth to Haku."

"Why did he need proof?"

"Because he's been hurt before."

"By who?"

"Anyone he ever let himself love. Except one. That's who he sort of judged me by."

"Why?"

"Siobhan was a wonderful woman."

"Why did he have to judge you?"

"It hurts to let someone slip away. You wish you'd have never held them..."

Reiko stared at her mother as her eyes went miles and years away. Remembering.

"Did someone ever do that to you?"

Kimiko snorted in amusment.

"Your father did after your half sister died."

Reiko wanted to shudder at the thought. She had heard about Medea Young. She was nothing like her parents. She had been raised by Hannibal after her mother had been killed. Even after being taken in and loved by her father, who had been oblivious that his daughter had even survived after her mother had died, she turned to the darkness and had to be killed.

"Why?"

"He was torn. She spent most of her time trying to kill me and damning your father over the fact that he had gotten over her mother."

"Does it hurt you?"

"...What?"

"That he loved someone once."

"A long time ago it did. But now I know better."

"Why?"

"Because, your father proved to me that I was loved beyond the rest. I've never to fear."

"How did he prove it?"

"He had turned everyone away after his daughter died. One day, all I had to do was walk into the room and...everything was okay again."

Reiko stared at her mother for several moments. Though a smile graced her thin lips, tears began to shatter and shimmer on the ground. _D_ _iamonds,_ thought Reiko, remembering a song her mother used to sing to her.

"Why are you dropping your diamonds? Aren't they priceless?"

Kimiko laughed in a sweet alto tone. "They're heavy, too. What are they worth if they only weigh you down? Tears were meant to be dropped with sorrows or really any strong emotion. A lot like greed. How can a rich man see the suffering of others if he doesn't move his wealth out of the way. That's how Buddha found his way. He had to leave everything behind."

Reiko's eyes widened with surprise. _And all this time I thought Papa was the wise one. Hmm..Maybe I can go deeper._

"Do you believe in God?"

Kimiko froze in shock at the question. She breathed out and closed her eyes.

"...I believe in love."

"Is that your answer to everything?"

"It _is_ the answer to everything."

"What's pi?" stated Reiko pridefully.

"How heavy is that in your heart? Is that what really matters in life? Who does that better? So you know the Theory of Relativity, or whatever that is, what does it accomplish in this world."

"What matters in the world, Mama?"

"That everything can live in peace. That your children and your children's children see the wonders you get to see. That mankind doesn't trample the world for their beliefs. That one day we might all come together. Love is the answer to everything because if you love something, you can't hurt it. It's not the nature of love."

"Why do believe so strongly in it? What did love do for you?"

Kimiko suddenly looked up to their surroundings. She saw a patch of soft grass nearby and pulled her daughter to spot and sat down, pulling the young teenager into her arms. Reiko was expecting some kind of family speech and a few tears. But when felt her mother shake and turned around to see her bawling, she became afraid.

"Mama?!" she whispered sincerely.

"Love saved my life. I...was ruined young. And it came back again. I could never escape it. It wasn't until your papa that...I was...okay," she paused for several moments to calm down, "I didn't deserve your father. Or you, or Akira, or Haku. I don't deserve what I have. But that's what love does. It gives and gives until there's nothing left. And then the other's love gives right back. It never dies. It never hurts or haunts. It's so beautiful."

Reiko suddenly shook with shame and collapsed on her mother and began to cry.

"Have I...given b-back..e-e-enough, Mama?"

Kimiko laughed through her tears and pulled her daughter close.

"More than enough, watashi no musume! More than I could ever return. You all have!"

Reiko began to laugh in sudden joy.

"I love you, Mama."

"Reiko, you have a heart big enough to fit the whole world. Do it. I love you, too."

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 **A/N: So either a tear or snore fest. I won't know unless you review! So get to it!**

 **P.S. ' _watashi no musume'_ means 'my daughter'.**


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